Fahrenheit 451
Jaycelle Therese Ardiente Tadena
Honors English 10B
Mr. Rabins
7 December 2012
The Need for Change Everyone, in some period of time in their life, can change. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the character Guy Montag starts to change little by little like droplets slowly filling a cup until it overflows. Montag meets various people that slowly begin to change him, such as Clarisse, a peculiar seventeen-year-old girl, an unnamed woman, who decides to immolate herself, and Faber, an old professor. By meeting these people, Montag's curiosity grows and his determination as well. When Montag meets Clarisse, his way of thinking is shifted from "how" to "why," and his curiosity starts to grow. When Clarisse asks him if he's happy, he starts to say to himself, "Of course I'm happy. What does she think? I'm not?" (10). Although Montag thinks he is happy, he is still unsure. Montag is only living the way society wants him to, but when he actually starts to think about it, he realizes he is not content by the way he is living. Another example is when Clarisse is tasting the rain, "And then, very slowly, as he walked, he tilted his head back in the rain, for just a few moments, and opened his mouth..." (24). Even though Montag thinks Clarisse is strange, he still tries tasting the rain himself. This illustrates that Montag is starting to become curious about trying new things. But Clarisse isn't the only one that has a big impact on Montag, The woman with the books as well. When the woman immolates herself, Montag's curiosity increases and asks himself what is in a book that is so important for the woman to choose to perish along with her books. When Montag keeps pulling at the lady to get out of the house, " the woman replied quietly, 'I want to stay here'" (39). Instead of following Montag, the lady decides to stay with her books and ends up burning the house and herself. This shows that the lady doesn't want to obey society; through this decision
Honors English 10B
Mr. Rabins
7 December 2012
The Need for Change Everyone, in some period of time in their life, can change. In the novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the character Guy Montag starts to change little by little like droplets slowly filling a cup until it overflows. Montag meets various people that slowly begin to change him, such as Clarisse, a peculiar seventeen-year-old girl, an unnamed woman, who decides to immolate herself, and Faber, an old professor. By meeting these people, Montag's curiosity grows and his determination as well. When Montag meets Clarisse, his way of thinking is shifted from "how" to "why," and his curiosity starts to grow. When Clarisse asks him if he's happy, he starts to say to himself, "Of course I'm happy. What does she think? I'm not?" (10). Although Montag thinks he is happy, he is still unsure. Montag is only living the way society wants him to, but when he actually starts to think about it, he realizes he is not content by the way he is living. Another example is when Clarisse is tasting the rain, "And then, very slowly, as he walked, he tilted his head back in the rain, for just a few moments, and opened his mouth..." (24). Even though Montag thinks Clarisse is strange, he still tries tasting the rain himself. This illustrates that Montag is starting to become curious about trying new things. But Clarisse isn't the only one that has a big impact on Montag, The woman with the books as well. When the woman immolates herself, Montag's curiosity increases and asks himself what is in a book that is so important for the woman to choose to perish along with her books. When Montag keeps pulling at the lady to get out of the house, " the woman replied quietly, 'I want to stay here'" (39). Instead of following Montag, the lady decides to stay with her books and ends up burning the house and herself. This shows that the lady doesn't want to obey society; through this decision